Albanian Municipal Association Required in Northern Macedonia

The Alternative Party in Northern Macedonia is seeking association of Albanian municipalities, as Serbs in Kosovo require.

“At the time when Kosovo is ahead of the final agreement on normalising relations with Serbia, and when each Western diplomat going to Pristina repeats the refrain to become the Association of Major Serb municipalities in Kosovo, the question that should be posed is why Albanian parties in Northern Macedonia, those that have municipalities (Democratic Union for Integration, Alliance for Albanians and B The ESA does not establish an initiative to establish the Association of Albanian municipalities in Northern Macedonia, but with those competencies that the international community seeks to have the Association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo”, Zeqija Ibrahimi has declared from the party “Alternativea”.

The party was part of the government with three ministries, but moved into opposition due to disagreements over the division of positions, following the decision to join the party, the Alliance for Albanians.

Its request for the association of Albanian municipalities has been rejected by other parties, besides the Besa Movement, which has said it will consider such a proposal.

The Democratic Union for Integration, led by Ali Ahmeti, said such a proposal is “anti-Western” and harmful for the processes Kosovo is going through.

“Such a proposal is pathetic, anti-American and anti-European, is harmful to the final resolution of the Kosovo issue. Unsuccessed efforts to survive on the political scene after the fiscos and completely wrong and destructive alignment” are said to be in DUI response.

The Social Democratic League says municipalities in northern Macedonia are entitled to co-operation so they do not need association, or other forms of union.

The “Situate in Kosovo cannot be reflected in our country in any way. Under the Law for Local Self-Government and the Law for Intercommunal Co-operation, co-operation among municipalities in northern Macedonia is absolutely possible. Each municipality can cooperate in any form when it finds interest in a particular subject. We consider this demand as unserious, not used to gain political points and it is unacceptable”, Sanela Shkriel has declared by the prime minister's Social Democratic League, Dimitar Kovachevski.

V chairman MRO DPMNE, Hristian Mickovski, said such an idea “could exacerbate interethnic relations” and that the reports and rights of ethnic communities, in particular, are regulated by the Ohrid Agreement.

Some smaller Macedonian parties, the Alternative's proposal, have called <x0-> nationalist that undermines the European perspective of Northern Macedonia”.

Kosovo and Serbia have reached agreement on Association in 2013 and later 2015 on principles for its establishment.

But in 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has found that the agreement is not in full harmony with the Constitution.

Serbia wants Kosovo to implement the agreements reached, but the Kosovo government has been declared against a single-ethnic association. /Radio Free Europe/